Method and system for providing enhanced caller identification information

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus permit handling of unwanted calls from callers such as telemarketers, when caller identification is provided. In one embodiment, the called party adds the caller identification information for the telemarketer to a personal list after receiving the unwanted call. Subsequent calls from the telemarketer are intercepted. In a second embodiment, the called party identifies the telemarketer by detecting the caller identification information before answering the call. By providing a screen listing indication, the caller identification information is added to the called party&#39;s personal list before the call is completed, permitting the call to be intercepted and while future calls from the telemarketer to be intercepted.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 09/535,333, filed Mar. 27, 2000, pending, which is herebyincorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE BACKGROUND

[0002] The present invention relates generally to telecommunicationservices and more particularly to caller identification.

[0003] Telecommunications service providers typically offer servicesthat attempt to provide customers with information that enables them todetermine whether or not to accept a call before answering the call. Oneservice that provides such information is caller identification (“CallerID”). Standard Caller ID services generally provide a customer with anindication of who is calling without requiring the customer to answerthe call. These systems typically retrieve information about the callingparty from a database and provide that information to the called party.Customer premise equipment (CPE) in the form of a display device isgenerally used to provide the called party with a visual readout of thename and/or telephone number associated with the calling party.

[0004] However, the effectiveness of Caller ID systems can be reduceddue to a number of different occurrences. One such occurrence is theinability of a service provider to provide the standard Caller IDinformation for a particular incoming call. A service provider may notbe able to provide the standard Caller ID information if the Caller IDinformation is blocked by the calling party, or if the Caller IDinformation is unavailable or incomplete. Also, the service provider maynot be able to provide the standard Caller ID information if the call ismarked “Private,” indicating that the calling party has taken steps tosuppress transmission of Caller ID information. This may be done, insome areas of the United States by, for example, pressing *67 wheninitiating a call.

[0005] When the standard Caller ID information cannot be provided, thecalled party is not adequately informed about who is calling and cannotdetermine whether or not to accept the incoming call before answeringthe call. Because the effectiveness of Caller ID systems is greatlyreduced when information cannot be provided, there is a need for animproved system and method for providing caller identificationinformation that overcomes these deficiencies.

[0006] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/122,484, filed Jul. 24, 1998and commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application, isincorporated herein by reference. This patent application discloses amethod and system for providing a called party with audible calleridentification information when standard caller identification cannot beprovided. When standard caller identification cannot be provided, thecall is blocked and a request for audible caller identification istransmitted to the calling party. The audible information issubsequently transmitted to the called party.

[0007] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/253,339, filed Feb. 19, 1999and commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application,illustrates in further detail implementation of this technique in atelecommunications system including Advanced Information Network (AIN)elements. This application is incorporated herein by reference.

[0008] However, some undesired calls may be received for which standardcaller identification information can be provided. Some telemarketingcalls include standard caller identification information and as a resultwill not be blocked by the system of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/122,484. Other telemarketers may use meaningless calleridentification information or caller identification information whichmay be deceptive, for example in a fund raising cold call. Even thoughthe called party receives the standard caller identification, the calledparty may unknowingly or inadvertently answer the call. This can resultin unwanted interruptions of the called party and limits the ability ofthe called party to manage incoming calls and privacy.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,053 discloses a service in which a subscriberis given a special ring announcing an incoming call. When the subscriberanswers the call, the caller is identified to the subscriber withoutconnecting the caller to the subscriber, for example, by recording thecaller announcing his identity in response to a prompt. The recording isplayed to the caller who has the option, without being connected to thecaller, of accepting the call, refusing the call or directing the callto an automated answering system such as voice mail, for example, by akeypad entry. A caller list can be created enabling preferred callers toreach the subscriber without being screened and a refusal list cangenerated for automatically blocking calls from disfavored callers.

[0010] However, the disclosed system fails to disclose handling anincoming call for which the standard caller identification informationcan not be provided. All calls are given the same treatment ofsuspending the call before connecting the call to the subscriber. Whilea refusal list may be established, entries must be entered manually. Noautomatic processing of calls for which standard caller identificationinformation cannot be provided is available.

[0011] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and apparatusfor providing enhanced caller identification information in atelecommunication system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system.

[0013]FIG. 2 is a call flow diagram illustrating a method for processinga call in the telecommunications system of FIG. 1.

[0014]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of thetelecommunication system of FIG. 1.

[0015]FIG. 4 presents a flow diagram illustrating a method forprocessing a call on the called party's intercept list in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 5 presents a flow diagram illustrating a method forprocessing a call on the called party's intercept list in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 6 presents a flow diagram illustrating an additional methodfor processing a call on the called party's intercept list in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 7 presents a flow diagram illustrating a further method forprocessing a call on the called party's intercept list in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019]FIG. 8 presents a flow diagram illustrating a method for use withthe method of FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] By way of introduction, a method and apparatus in accordance withthe illustrated embodiments provides for determining whether standardcaller identification information can be provided for a received call.If not, the call is suspended and the calling party prompted to providespoken caller identification information. This spoken calleridentification information is recorded and played back to the calledparty, while the call is still suspended. The called party is presentedwith options for disposing of the call, such as by answering the call,refusing the call or routing the call to an automated answering systemsuch as a voice mail answering system.

[0021] If standard caller identification information can be provided forthe call, the call is terminated at the called communication station,which rings to announce the call. The standard caller identificationinformation is presented to the called party. A screen listingindication may be detected, indicating that the called party wishes toplace the calling communication station associated with the calleridentification information on a list for having subsequent calls fromthe listed communication station intercepted. The called party mayprovide the screen listing indication before answering the call or afteranswering and disposing of the call.

[0022] Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of atelecommunications system 100. The system 100 comprises a serviceswitching point (SSP) 102, a signal transfer point (STP) 104, a servicecontrol point (SCP) 106, a first SCP database 108, a second SCP database110, a compact service node (CSN) 112, a central office 114, calledtelephone station 116 and calling telephone station 118. Intelligentnetwork system components, commonly referred to as advanced intelligentnetwork (AIN) components, suitable for implementing the presentembodiment are commercially available from several vendors and are knownto those skilled in the art. AIN components can implement computerreadable program code as known to those skilled in the art. Vendors ofAIN components typically have a preferred programming language andoperating platform as known to those skilled in the art.

[0023] SSP 102 preferably comprises an AIN switch that routes calls,recognizes and responds to triggers, generates queries to obtain callinformation and responds to returned call information. SSP 102 connectscalled telephone station 116 with central office 114 to enable calls tobe placed between called telephone station 116 and calling telephonestation 118. SSP 102 preferably communicates with SCP 106, centraloffice 114 and CSN 112 by utilizing a signaling protocol such asSignaling System 7 (SS7) or other such signaling protocols as presentlyknown to those skilled in the art or developed in the future. SSP 102preferably generates queries to SCP 102 and receives and responds toresponses to the queries returned from SCP 106. In the illustratedembodiment, communication between the SSP 102 and the SCP 106 employsTransaction Capabilities Applications Protocol or TCAP.

[0024] STP 104 preferably comprises a network element that transferssignaling communications in response to signaling protocols such as SS7or other such signaling protocols as presently known to those skilled inthe art or developed in the future. STP 104 preferably transfers queriesfrom SSP 106 to SCP 106 and transfers responses to the queries from SCP106 to SSP 102.

[0025] SCP 106 preferably comprises an AIN element that stores callinformation and receives and responds to queries. SCP 106 preferablystores call control information in the first SCP database 108 and canaccess the stored call control information. SCP 106 also stores standardcaller identification information in the second SCP database 110 and canaccess the stored caller identification information. SCP 106 receivesqueries generated by SSP 102 and preferably responds to the queries byperforming database searches to locate the requested call controlinformation or caller identification information as known to thoseskilled in the art. SCP 106 can forward the call control information orcaller identification information to SSP 102.

[0026] CSN 112 preferably comprises a network element such as a compactservice node that enables communications between telephone stations 116,118 and the network. CSN 112 can preferably transmit messages to andreceive responses from telephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can generateannouncements that can be transmitted to telephone stations 116, 118.CSN 112 can transmit responses such as audible caller identificationinformation from telephone station 118 to telephone station 116 byconnecting telephone stations 118, 116 or by recording and playing backthe responses as known to those skilled in the art. The announcementstransmitted to telephone station 116 preferably comprise accept andreject options along with requests for input from the telephone station116. The requests for input preferably comprise requests for input thatcan be used by CSN 112 to cancel calls to telephone station 116, connectcalls to telephone station 116, forward calls to a voice mail system oranother location such as another telephone line, and transmit messagesto telephone station 118. As used herein, the term voice mail systemmeans all types of message recording systems as known to those skilledin the art. CSN 112 can preferably receive and respond to the inputtransmitted from telephone station 116. The term input means anysuitable signal such as DTMF tones, voice input, dial pulse input ormodem/fax input as known to those skilled in the art.

[0027] In alternative embodiments, other system equipment may providethe functions provided by CSN 112. For example, equivalent functionalitymay be provided by an AIN service node or by an Intelligent Peripheral,as those terms are understood in the art. These components and otherswhich are operationally equivalent may be substituted for the CSN 112 inFIG. 1.

[0028] Database 108 preferably comprises a data storage element for usewith SCP 106 as known to those skilled in the art. Database 108preferably stores call control information that can be implemented bySSP 102 to control calls. Such call control information is known tothose skilled in the art.

[0029] Database 110 preferably comprises a standard calleridentification with name database as known to those skilled in the art.Database 110 preferably includes the name of the person associated withcalling telephone station 118 along with the telephone number that isassociated with calling telephone station 118. Database 110 canalternatively comprise a caller assistance database as known to thoseskilled in the art. While databases 108, 110 are depicted within atelecommunications system, databases 108, 110 can comprise any suitabledatabases containing information adapted for use in the presentembodiment and are not limited to databases located within atelecommunications network. It is also important to note that whiledatabases 108, 110 are shown as separate components, they can beimplemented as a single database.

[0030] Central office 114 preferably comprises an AIN network switch asknown to those skilled in the art. Central office 114 enables calls tobe placed between calling telephone station 118 and called telephonestation 116. Alternatively, central office 114 can comprise a non-AINnetwork switch as known to those skilled in the art.

[0031] Telephone stations 116, 118 preferably comprise analog telephonesets as known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, telephonestations 116, 118 can comprise wireless, PCS, ISDN or any other form ofcommunication station known to those skilled in the art. Calledtelephone station 116 preferably includes CPE equipment for use withcaller identification services as known to those skilled in the art.

[0032]FIG. 2 is a call flow diagram illustrating a method for processinga call in the telecommunications system 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2illustrates communication between SSP 102, SCP 106 and CSN 112 (FIG. 1)for processing the call.

[0033] At step 202, the calling party at the calling telephone station118 calls the directory number (DN) of the called communication station116. The calling party may choose to enable Calling Number DeliveryBlocking, for example, by dialing *67 before dialing the DN of thecalled communication station 116. This will block delivery of thestandard caller ID information for the calling telephone station 118. Insome systems, portions of the telecommunications system 100 such as thetrunk group terminating the call may not pass the standard Caller IDinformation.

[0034] At step 204, the terminating SSP 102 recognizes that aterminating attempt trigger (TAT) is assigned to the called directorynumber. In response to the TAT, the SSP 102 creates aTermination_Attempt query message and transmits the query message to theSCP 106 for analysis. In the illustrated embodiment using AIN elements,the query message is formatted according to AIN Release 0.1 TCAP. Thequery message includes several parameters as is known to thoseordinarily skilled in the art. For the Termination_Attempt querymessage, the following parameters are specified: UserID DN to which theTAT is assigned (Called DN) BearerCapability 01 (3.1 KHz) CalledPartyIDDN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN) Lata Local Access andTransport Area of Called DN TriggerCriteriaType 15 (terminating attempt)CalledPartyStationType Originating Line Information of the Called DNChargeNumber ANI of the originating facility or ANI of last forwardingstation, if available CallingPartyID DN of the calling party (ifavailable) Presentation Restriction 01 (Presentation Restricted) 10(Number Unavailable) ChargePartyStationType Originating Line Informationof the calling DN OriginalCalledPartyID First party that redirected thecall RedirectingPartyID Last party that redirected the call

[0035] If the calling party has blocked the standard Caller IDinformation, or if the system does not pass the standard Caller IDinformation for the calling communication station, the CallingPartyIDparameter of the TAT query message will not be available. ThePresentation Restriction Indicator parameter will be set to one of thebinary values 01 or 10 to indicate this condition. This is in contrastto the situation in which the standard Caller ID information isavailable and the Presentation Restriction Indicator parameter is set to00, to indicate presentation allowed.

[0036] In response to the Termination_Attempt query, the SCP 106 willvalidate the Presentation Restriction Indicator parameter of theCallingPartyID parameter. If the indicator is set to PresentationRestriction (01) or Number Unavailable (10), the SCP 106 will passrouting information to the SSP 102 in a Forward_Call response message,step 206. In the illustrated embodiment using AIN elements, the responsemessage is formatted according to AIN Release 0.1 TCAP. The responsemessage includes several parameters as is known to those ordinarilyskilled in the art.

[0037] In a first embodiment, for the Forward_Call query message, thefollowing parameters are specified: CallingPartyID DN to which the TATis assigned (Called DN from the Termination_Attempt query withpresentation allowed) CalledPartyID Lead DN from the Basic RateInterface (BRI) connecting the CSN PrimaryCarrier 0110 (LEC) AMAslpID008780000 (uniquely identifies a service and indicates flat rate)

[0038] Thus, in this first embodiment, the SCP 106 detects theCalledPartyID parameter of the Termination_Attempt query received fromthe SSP 102. As noted above, this parameter is set to the DN of thecalled party, or the directory number of the called telephone station.The SCP 106 places this value in the Forward_Call response for theCallingPartyID parameter. The CallingPartyID parameter of theForward_Call response has an associated Presentation RestrictionIndicator parameter. The SCP 106 marks this Presentation RestrictionIndicator as presentation allowed.

[0039] In this manner, the system and method according to the firstembodiment avoids the problems that arise when the called partysubscribes to a per line blocking service. When per line blocking isactivated, the system equipment including the SCP 106 and the SSP 102 isprevented from transmitting the Caller ID information for the calledparty. In subsequent processing by the system 100, the SSP 102 lacks thecalled telephone station directory number to complete the call back tothe called telephone station. In the illustrated embodiment, the calledtelephone station DN is read from the TAT query and placed in theCallingPartyID parameter of the Forward_Call response. The SSP 102 cansubsequently read the value of this parameter, avoiding the per lineblocking limitation.

[0040] In a second embodiment, a different parameter is used inForward_Call response message for communicating the called telephonestation's DN. This parameter is the RedirectingPartyID. In thisembodiment, the SCP 106 places the CalledPartyID DN from theTermination_Attempt query message into the RedirectingPartyID of theForward_Call response message. The RedirectingPartyID has an associatedPresentation Restriction Indicator parameter. The SCP 106 sets theassociated Presentation Restriction Indicator parameter to presentationallowed. In this embodiment, the Forward_Call query message hasparameters specified as follows: CallingPartyID DN of the Calling Party(if available) CalledPartyID Lead DN from the Basic Rate Interface (BRI)connecting the CSN PrimaryCarrier 0110 (LEC) RedirectingPartyID DN towhich the TAT is assigned (Called DN from the termination_attempt query)with presentation allowed (overwrites redirection information that theSSP would normally provide) AMAslpID 008780000 (uniquely identifies aservice and indicates flat rate)

[0041] In this manner, the system and method according to the secondembodiment avoids the problems that arise when the called partysubscribes to a per line blocking service.

[0042] At step 208, the SSP 102 receives the Forward_Call responsemessage and originates a new call for the forwarded leg. The SSP 102merges the new originating call and the existing terminating call. Thatis, the SSP 102 bridges or reconfigures the call. At this point, the SSP102 routes the call as if it received an Analyze_Route message, usingthe CalledPartyID in the Forward_Call message to identify the new party.In the first embodiment described above, the CallingPartyID is the DN towhich the termination attempt trigger is assigned. In the secondembodiment, the redirecting number is the DN to which the terminationattempt trigger is assigned. The SSP 102 forwards the call to the CSN112.

[0043] At step 210, the forwarded call is answered by the CSN 112. TheCSN 112 is operative to generate an announcement that is transmitted tothe calling telephone station 118. One example of a suitableannouncement is “The party you are calling does not accept calls fromunidentified numbers. At the tone, say your name or the company yourepresent and your call will be completed.” The CSN 112 then detects aresponse. If the calling party provides a response, the response isrecorded as audible caller identification information for subsequentplayback to the called party. If no response of provided, the call isterminated.

[0044] At step 212, the CSN 112 originates a new call to the calledtelephone station 116. In the first embodiment described above, the CSN112 originates the new call to the DN found in the CallingPartyIDparameter of the Forward_Call response message. The parameter was set tothe DN to which the TAT is assigned. In the second embodiment describedabove, the CSN 112 originates the new call using the DN found in theRedirectingPartyID parameter of the Forward_Call response message. Theparameter was set to the DN to which the TAT is assigned.

[0045] At step 214, the SSP 102 recognizes that a terminating attempttrigger (TAT) is assigned to the called DN. Based on the TAT, the SSP102 creates a termination_attempt query message and transmits the querymessage to the SCP 106 for analysis. The parameters required for the AINrelease 0.1 TCAP query message in the illustrated embodiment are asfollows: UserID DN to which the TAT is assigned (Called DN)BearerCapability 01 (3.1 KHz) CalledPartyID DN to which the TAT isassigned (Called DN) Lata Local Access and Transport Area of the CalledDN TriggerCriteriaType 15 (Termination Attempt) CalledPartyStationTypeOriginating Line information of the called DN ChargeNumber ANI of theoriginating facility CallingPartyID DN of the calling party (CSN DN)Presentation Restriction 00 (Presentation Allowed)ChargePartyStationType Originating Line information of the calling DN

[0046] At step 216, the service logic of the SCP 106 will validate thePresentation Restriction Indicator of the CallingPartyID parameter ofthe query message. If the indicator is equal to Presentation Allowed,the SCP 106 will create an Authorize_Termination response message andsend it to the SSP 102. The parameters required for the AIN release 0.1TCAP response message in the illustrated embodiment are as follows:CallingPartyID DN of the calling party (CSN DN) ChargeNumber ANI of thecalling party ChargePartyStationType Originating Line information of thecalling DN DisplayText CNAME information

[0047] At step 218, when the called party answers the called telephonestation 116, in the illustrated embodiment the CSN 112 first plays anidentifying message and requests a keypress input. This ensures that ahuman is present to answer the called telephone station 116 anddistinguishes the case where a modem, fax or other equipment answers thecalled telephone station 116. If the called party accepts the call, theCSN 112 connects the original calling party at the calling telephonestation 118 to the called party at the called telephone station 116.

[0048] Referring now to FIG. 3, it shows a flow diagram illustrating amethod for providing enhanced caller identification information. In oneembodiment, the method may be implemented in a telecommunicationsnetwork including AIN elements as shown in FIG. 2. Other embodiments maybe implemented as well using both wireline and wireless technologies.The method begins at block 300.

[0049] In block 302, it is determined if caller identificationinformation is available for a call. The call has been placed by acalling party at a calling communication station, intended for a calledparty at a called communication station in a telecommunications network.In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the CallingPartyID parameter andthe Presentation Restriction parameter of a Termination_Attempt (TAT)query message are examined.

[0050] If caller identification information is available, at block 304it is determined if the caller identification information is on apersonal list or intercept list maintained for the called party. Thepersonal list may be stored at any convenient location in the network,such as at the database associated with a Service Control Point or aseparate database corresponding to another service node or a peripheraldevice. The personal list is established when the called partysubscribes to the service. Caller identification information may beadded to the list or deleted from the list under control of thesubscriber. Caller identification information may be automaticallydeleted from the list upon satisfaction of a predetermined condition,such as expiration of a predetermined time period or reassignment of thecalling line identifier to a new subscriber in the network.

[0051] Block 304 includes, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, comparing theCallingPartyID parameter of the Termination_Attempt query ofForward_Call query to elements of the personal list. In AIN systems, theCallingPartyID is the directory number of the calling communicationstation. The personal list may preferably store caller identificationinformation in directory number format for ready comparison withouttranslation and for reduced storage size. Alternatively, the personallist may store an alphanumeric identifier such as text that is morereadily understandable by the called party using standard calleridentification service equipment. Thus, block 304 may further involvetranslating an identifier such as a directory number to an alphanumericindicator or vice versa.

[0052] If the caller identification information is on the called party'spersonal list, the called party has previously indicated that callsassociated with the calling communication station should be interceptedand processed, block 306. The call processing may take on several forms.FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7 set forth various embodiments of the presentinvention for processing a call in accordance with the presentinvention.

[0053] If, at block 304, the caller identification informationassociated with the call was not on the called party's personal list, atblock 310 the call is routed to the called communication station. In theexample of FIG. 2, in response to a Forward_Call query, message, aservice switching point (SSP) or other network element bridges orreconfigures the terminating call and a new originating call andforwards the call to the compact service node (CSN) serving the calledcommunication station. The CSN originates a new call to the calledcommunication station. At block 312, the caller identificationinformation is provided to the called party. This may be done, forexample by providing a visual display at the called communicationstation or by providing an audible indication using the calleridentification information. Any suitable method of providing the calleridentification information may be employed. However, the called partymay not receive the provided caller identification information, forexample, if the called party is using an extension that does not providesuch visual or audible indications.

[0054] At block 314, it is determined if the called party answers thecall. If so, the call is completed as shown in block 316 and at block318, it is determined if a data entry was received from the called partythat corresponds to a screen listing indication. Such an indication maybe any suitable string of digits or characters, such as the threecharacters *##. If the entered data corresponds to the screen listingindication, at block 320, the caller identification informationassociated with the call is added to the personal list for the calledparty. The personal list may include any suitable representation ofcaller identification information, such as the directory number for thecalling party, the name information associated with the directorynumber, or both of these representations or some alternativerepresentation. After adding the caller identification information tothe called party personal list, the call is ended at block 322.

[0055] If a negative result was provided at block 314 the method endswithout the call being completed as shown in block 316. If a negativeresult was provided in decision block 318, the method waits for thecalled party to go on-hook before ending the call as shown in block 319.Any other suitable result may alternatively be selected for any of thesedecision blocks.

[0056] If, at block 302, caller identification information was notavailable, control proceeds to block 324. Generally, the call flowillustrated above in connection with FIG. 2 is preferably followed. ATermination_Attempt query from an SSP to a service control point willinclude a Presentation Restriction parameter indicated that theCallingPartyID parameter is unavailable for the call. At block 324, thecall is suspended. In response to the Termination_Attempt query, the SCPwill validate the Presentation Restriction parameter and will passrouting information to an SSP in a Forward_Call response message. TheSSP receives the Forward_Call response message and forwards the call toa compact service node (CSN).

[0057] In response to the forwarded call, the CSN generates anannouncement that is transmitted to the calling communication station.At block 326, the calling party is prompted for spoken calleridentification information. A message may be played to the callerinviting the caller to state a name or other identification information.At block 328, the spoken caller identification information is recordedfor subsequent playback. The CSN then originates a new call to thecalled telephone station. The SSP recognizes that a terminating attempttrigger (TAT) is assigned to the called directory number of the calledcommunication station. A Terminating_Attempt query message is generated.In response to the query message, the SCP creates anAuthorize_Termination message which is sent to the SSP.

[0058] At this point the method determines if it can complete the callto the called party, as shown in decision block 329. In one embodiment,the called party's telephone rings and if an off-hook condition isdetected, the called party is prompted to press a particular key, suchas the “1” key to continue. If the appropriate DTMF signal,corresponding to the particular key, is not received in response to theprompt after an appropriate wait interval, it is assumed that the callwas not answered by a person. In this case the call is completed betweenthe calling party and the called party in order for the calling party toleave a message on an automated answering system associated with thecalled communication system, such as a voice mail system or answeringmachine, as shown in block 331. If the appropriate DTMF signal isreceived, the method proceeds to block 330.

[0059] At block 330, the spoken caller identification information isplayed back to the called party. The called party is given anopportunity to accept or decline the call, block 332. Other options,such as routing to voice mail, may be provided as well. If the call isnot accepted, control proceeds to block 322 where the call is ended.Optionally, a message is played to the calling party prior to the end ofthe call. The text of the message may be selected by the called partyeither in block 332 or block 320 from several optional messages. In analternative embodiment, a different message may be played depending onwhether the method proceeded to block 322 from block 332 or block 320.In a further alternative embodiment, a single predetermined message maybe used. If the call is accepted, at block 334 the call is completedbetween the calling party and the called party. The method embodied inFIG. 3 ends at block 336.

[0060]FIG. 4 presents a method for processing a call on the calledparty's intercept list in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the intercepted call is treated as areceived call where the caller ID information is either blocked orunavailable. The audible caller ID information is recorded from thecaller's voice. The method begins in block 400 and in block 402, thecall is processed as if the caller ID information is either blocked orunavailable. Referring back to the method of FIG. 3, in one possibleembodiment, the method would proceed from decision block 304 directly toblock 324. This method is easy to implement if the methods of blocks322-336 have already been implemented for callers whose caller IDinformation is either blocked or unavailable. If a called party haspreviously indicated that a particular caller be included on theintercept list, that calling party can only be connected to the calledparty if the called party, after being informed who has called, agreesto accept the call.

[0061]FIG. 5 presents a method for processing a call on the calledparty's intercept list in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the intercepted call is treated similarlyto a received call where the caller ID information is either blocked orunavailable. However, since the caller ID information is present, thereis no need to prompt the calling party for a name. The received callerID information can be used to generate an audible indication of thecalling party. Blocks 322′, 324′, 332′, 334′ and 336′ correspond,respectively to blocks 322, 324, 332, 334 and 336 discussed inconjunction with FIG. 3.

[0062] After the call is suspended in block 324, the caller IDinformation text is used to generate corresponding synthesized speechsignals. In one embodiment of the present invention, compact servicenode 112 employs text-to-speech conversion to provide audible caller IDinformation based on caller name information, caller telephone numberinformation or both. If caller name information is used, the caller nameinformation can be preprocessed to provide a more accurate audibleindication of the calling party. Pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/240,522, titled “Method and System for Text-to-Speech Conversionof Caller Information,” filed Jan. 29, 1999, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/044,574, titled “Method and System For Providing EnhancedCall Waiting,” filed Mar. 19, 1998, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/303,157, titled “Method and System For Providing Enhanced CallWaiting With Verification and Name Change Service,” filed Apr. 30, 1999,the subject matter of which applications are incorporated herein byreference, provide a more detailed description of this preprocessing. Indecision block 504, if the calling party is available, the audiblecaller ID information is played to the called party in block 508 and thecall is processed further in blocks 332′, 334′, 322′ and 336′ as if thecalling party information were not available. In these embodiments, thecalled party is thereby given the option of accepting the call from thecalling party or disposing of the call without having the callcompleted.

[0063]FIG. 6 presents an additional method for processing a call on thecalled party's intercept list or personal list in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, unlike themethods described in conjunction with FIGS. 4 and 5, in every instancethe call is ended without completing the call to the called party. Thismeans, in effect, that the called party will not receive calls from thatparticular party.

[0064] The method begins in block 600 and a message is played to thecalling party in block 602. The message may ask the calling party totake the called party off a list of telemarketing calls or alternativelymay be a message indicating that the called party does not accepttelemarketing calls. After the message is played, the call is ended asshown in block 604 and the method ends in block 606. In one embodimentof the present invention, compact service node 112 plays the message tothe caller. However, other embodiments are possible within the scope ofthe present invention. Other peripheral devices and other service nodessuch as the SCP may likewise perform this function.

[0065] This embodiment of the present invention affords more privacythan the embodiment of FIG. 5. Because the called party is neverconnected to the call, the telephone never rings and the called party isnot interrupted.

[0066]FIG. 7 presents a further method for processing a call on thecalled party's intercept list in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. Like the embodiment of FIG. 6, the called party isnever connected to the call, the telephone never rings and the calledparty is not interrupted. Instead of playing a message to the calledparty and ending the call, the call is routed to voicemail or otherautomated answering system for the calling party to, at the callingparty's option, leave a message. The method begins at block 700 andoptionally proceeds to play a message to the calling party in block 702.The message can indicate the calling party that there call cannot becompleted, however, they will be able to leave a message. The call isrouted to the called party's voicemail box or other automated answeringsystem as shown in block 704 for the caller to leave a message. Themethod ends in block 706.

[0067]FIG. 8 presents a flow diagram illustrating a method for use withthe method of FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In particular, a further enhancement of block 316 of FIG. 3is provided that allows a called party to add the calling party's callerID information to the personal list without taking the call. The methodbegins in block 800 and, in block 802, it is determined if a data entrywas received from the called party that corresponds to a screen listingindication. Such an indication may be any suitable string of digits orcharacters, such as the three characters *##. In some telephony systems,the network may not detect dialed digits if the telephone is stillon-hook. In accordance with an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention an off-hook signal followed by an on-hook signal within apredetermined time interval, such as 500 msec, can be interpreted as theprescribed data entry. In this fashion, the called party can pick up thetelephone receiver and replace it quickly without the need to speak withthe calling party while implementing the intercept feature in accordancewith the present invention.

[0068] If the entered data corresponds to the screen listing indication,at block 320′, the caller identification information associated with thecall is added to the personal list for the called party in a mannersimilar to the functions performed in block 320 described in conjunctionwith FIG. 3.

[0069] In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,the methods described herein are intended for operation as softwareprograms running on a computer processor. Dedicated hardwareimplementations including, but not limited to, application specificintegrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardwaredevices can likewise be constructed to implement the methods describedherein. It should also be noted that the software implementations of thepresent invention can be stored on a tangible storage medium such as amagnetic or optical disk, read-only memory or random access memory andbe produced as an article of manufacture.

[0070] While a particular embodiment of the present invention has beenshown and described, modifications may be made. It is therefore intendedin the appended claims to cover alls such changes and modificationswhich fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A communication system configured to process a call from a callingparty at a calling communication station to a called party at a calledcommunication station, the communication system comprising: a servicecontrol point (SCP) operative to detect a Termination Attempt query froma terminating switch and in response to the Termination Attempt query,to determine whether standard caller identification information for thecalling communication station can be provided to the calledcommunication station, the SCP being further operative to communicate aForward Call message if standard caller identification informationcannot be provided, the Forward Call message including an identifier forthe called communication station and a presentation indicator; and aservice node selectively in communication with the SCP, the service nodeoperative to receive the Forward Call message, the service node beingconfigured to transmit a request for spoken caller identificationinformation to the calling communication station and store the spokencaller identification information as audible caller identificationinformation in response to the Forward Call Message, the service nodeoperative to provide the audible caller identification information tothe called communication station if the called party accepts the call,the service node operative to detect a screen listing indication fromthe called communication station, and the service control pointoperative to intercept subsequent calls from the calling communicationstation to the called communication station in response to the screenlisting indication.
 2. The communication system of claim 1 wherein theSCP is configured to obtain the standard caller identificationinformation if the standard caller identification information can beprovided, the SCB being further configured to compare the standardcaller identification information to a stored intercept list for thecalled communication station, and communicate a Termination Attemptresponse message from the SCP to the terminating switch to complete thereceived call to the called party only if the standard calleridentification information does not match an entry on the interceptlist.
 3. The communication system of claim 2 wherein a component of thecommunication system is configured to detect signaling from the calledcommunication station indicating the standard caller identification forthe calling communication station should be added to the intercept listfor the called communication station if the standard calleridentification was provided and the call was completed, and if thesignaling is detected, add the standard caller identification for thecalling communication station to the intercept list for the calledcommunication station.
 4. The communication system of claim 1 whereinthe service node is operative to detecting signaling by determining if adata entry was received from the called communication station anddetermining if the received data entry corresponds to a screen listingindication.
 5. A method for processing calls in a communications system,the method comprising: (a) at a service control point (SCP) of thecommunications system, detecting a Termination Attempt query associatedwith a received call from a calling party at a calling communicationstation to a called communication station; (b) determining if standardcaller identification information for the calling communication stationcan be provided to the called communication station; (c) if standardcaller identification information can be provided, (c1) obtaining thestandard caller identification information, and (c2) comparing thestandard caller identification information to an intercept list; (c3)communicating a Termination Attempt response message from the SCP tocomplete the received call to the called party only if the standardcaller identification information does not match an entry on theintercept list; (d) if standard caller identification information cannotbe provided or the standard caller identification information matches anentry of the intercept list, (d1) preventing completion of the call tothe called communication station; (d2) sending a Forward Call messagefrom the SCP to a service node of the communications system to cause theservice node to transmit a request for spoken caller identificationinformation to the calling communication station and play the spokencaller identification information to the called communication stationwhen provided; and (d3) at the service node, completing the receivedcall only if the called party accepts the call; (e) if the standardcaller identification was provided and the call was completed, detectingsignaling from the called communication station indicating the standardcaller identification for the calling communication station should beadded to the intercept list for the called communication station; and(f) if the signaling is detected, adding the standard calleridentification for the calling communication station to the interceptlist for the called communication station.
 6. The method of claim 5wherein (d2) comprises: transmitting a request for spoken identificationinformation to the calling communication station, and storing the spokencaller identification information, when provided.
 7. The method of claim5 further comprising the step of: generating audible calleridentification information using synthesized speech signals based on thestandard caller identification information.
 8. The method of claim 5further comprising: detecting in the Terminating Attempt query a CalledParty Identifier, the Called Party Identifier corresponding to thecalled communication station; placing the Called Party Identifier in theForward Call message as a Calling Party Identifier; and marking aPresentation Indicator associated with the Calling Party Identifier aspresentation allowed.